Official Visit Primer, Part II

Sam Hellman

01/20/2012

Rutgers hosts more than a dozen recruits this weekend on official visits, and the stakes are high. There is a nice mix of committed and uncommitted players, and ScarletReport.com is here to simply things with the second part of its official visit primer.

It is the biggest recruiting weekend of the season at Rutgers where as many as 15 official visitors could find their way to campus. To get folks amped up for the big weekend, we provide an official visit primer to introduce the attendees.

Devin FullerPosition: QBSchool: Northern Valley Regional High (Old Tappan, N.J.)Height: 6-0Weight: 185Scout.com Position Rank: Four-star, 3rd at QBSchools under consideration: Rutgers, TCU, Nebraska, Arizona, BaylorOfficial visits made: Nebraska (Oct. 7), TCU (Dec. 9), UCLA (Jan. 13) Official visits on schedule: Arizona (Jan. 27)What this visit means: Fuller is another top recruit with intimate familiarity to the Rutgers program. This weekend's visit is not about building relationships, so much as it is about solidifying them with the coaching staff and other recruits. The Army All-American is close with uncommitted top talent Darius Hamilton and Rutgers commit Leonte Carroo.

For Rutgers, the weekend is a chance to show Fuller why he can be a quarterback in Piscataway, regardless of any return of Tom Savage or general depth at the position.

Tashon WhitehurstPosition: LBSchool: Gainesville High School (Fla.) Height: 6-3Weight: 190Scout.com Position Rank: Two-star, Unranked at MLBSchools under consideration: Syracuse, South Florida, Rutgers, Marshall, UCFOfficial visits made: Marshall (Sept. 23), Syracuse (Dec. 9), South Florida (Jan. 13) Official visits on schedule: NoneWhat this visit means: Seeking to add a third linebacker after Nyeem Wartman recommitted to Penn State, Whitehurst may be the top target. The Florida linebacker committed to Syracuse last summer but kept his recruitment open to take official visits elsewhere.

Whitehurst has had steady contact with Rutgers since the end of the season and has a good relationship with assistant Chris Hewitt, who recruits his area. Whitehurst remains unfamiliar with Rutgers itself and will use the weekend to learn about the school, the area and enjoy a visit to New York.

Desmon PeoplesPosition: RBSchool: Archbishop Wood High School (Warminster, Pa.) Height: 5-7Weight: 175Scout.com Position Rank: Three-star, No. 53 at RBSchools under consideration: Committed to Rutgers Official visits made: None Official visits on schedule: None What this visit means: When Peoples committed to Rutgers in April, he quickly latched onto incoming freshman Miles Shuler as a friend and to get some recruiting tips. After successfully getting teammate Brandon Arcidiacono to jump on board, Peoples hopes to do the same with some of the uncommitted recruits on campus.

Peoples will get a chance to spend time with the young Rutgers running backs like Savon Huggins and Jawan Jamison, who each had impacts early in their careers.

Blake RankinPosition: QBSchool: Bloomsburg Area High School (Pa.) Height: 6-4Weight: 195Scout.com Position Rank: Three-star, No. 25 at QBSchools under consideration: Committed to Rutgers Official visits made: None Official visits on schedule: None What this visit means: Like Peoples, Rankin has been all about Rutgers for a while, committed in April before the spring game. Rankin was instrumental in convincing friend Chris Muller to jump on board and will likely be in the first row cheering him on during his attempt at the Grease Trucks challenge.

Rankin has the leadership gene that comes with being a big-time quarterback and will use this weekend to show the uncommitted recruits what he saw in the Rutgers program that made him commit so early in the process.

Steve LongaPosition: OLBSchool: Saddle Brook High School (N.J.) Height: 6-1Weight: 210Scout.com Position Rank: Two-star, No. 113 at OLBSchools under consideration: Committed to Rutgers Official visits made: None Official visits on schedule: None What this visit means: Longa got to know some of the uncommitted recruits like Hamilton and Fuller when he went to Carroo's announcement ceremony in August. Since then, the North Jersey linebacker has worked hard to show uncommitted kid what he saw in Rutgers.

This weekend is a chance for Longa to help in the recruiting game and spend quality time with the Rutgers coaching staff. Watching Khaseem Greene this season, Longa hopes to get to know the co-Big East Defensive Player of the Year this weekend as he prepares to play weakside linebacker for the Scarlet Knights.